Another dog swim season is over

With the official arrival of fall on Saturday, nearly every outdoor pool closed for the season. Which means the dog swims that herald the last time anyone gets to splash and play before the pools are drained, cleaned and covered.

Sundae has a big smile, and some snot, on her face at Great Waves Alexandria

Hurricane Florence put a damper on this year’s swims, forcing some to postpone and some to outright cancel. But we did manage to hit two, the Great Waves Waterpark in Alexandria and a condo pool in Shirlington.

This white shepherd cooled off at Great Waves

The Great Waves event is my favorite, because they not only have the step-in wave pool, but there are a variety of other pools across the large campus ranging from shin-deep wading pools to the pool where the slides dump out that has deeper water for the dogs to actually paddle around.

This Golden Retriever betrayed his breed and refused to swim, even with a tennis ball lure

The girls particularly like the slide pool, this year they fetched a frisbee for over an hour and half. Looks like they’re sharing, doesn’t it? Nope, Chatham does the work, Sundae jumps in at the end to steal the reward.

Sundae jumping in to snatch the prize

One thing I highly recommend, if you’ve got a common breed (i.e. RETRIEVERS), is to outfit your furkid in a brightly-colored bandanna. When you’re surrounded by wet Goldens and Labs, and they are ALL yellow or black, it helps you easily and quickly identify which one is yours.

How cute are these two?

At the private pool dog swims, it tends to be a community social event, which is great fun, too. Neighbors with and without dogs come out to socialize. I started my condo’s pooch paddle nine years ago, and we collected voluntary donations for the nearby Animal Welfare League of Arlington.

Love this Lab’s webbed feet (but he could use a nail trim)!

Chatham used to be the diving queen, but as she’s aged, she doesn’t do it anymore. Never fear, Sundae grabbed the crown.